Nelson County, Virginia
Nelson County, VA: non-irrigated cash rent $40 an acre (2026); land and buildings $5,566 an acre in the 2022 census. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 51125. Figures as of 2026-09-20.
Non-irrigated cash rent in Nelson County is $40 per acre, up 12.7 percent from 2016 to 2026. The census value of land and buildings in 2022 stood at $5,566 per acre, with land value change of 9.7 percent from 2017 to 2022, or 1.9 percent a year. July nights have warmed: the 2017-2026 average low is 66.3 F against a 1991-2020 normal of 64.5 F, and the trend since 1976 runs 0.66 F per decade, warming. The 2020s is the first decade the July average low reached 66 F. Crop insurance indemnities from 1989-2025 closed crop years total $12.3 million, with freeze and frost the largest cause at 45 percent; the loss ratio over 2016-2025 was 1.12, up from 0.92 across 1989-2025.
VA median $47 · tied for 28th lowest of 84
VA median $4,596 · 33rd highest of 86
VA median $8.45 · 5th highest of 67
VA median 33% · 17th lowest of 90
Cash rent
Dollars per acre, USDA NASS county survey. A break in a line is a year with no published survey; nothing is drawn across it.
Land value
Corn yield
Crop insurance record
Claims paid divided by total premium (the farmer share plus the federal subsidy), each closed crop year since 1989. Above the dashed line, the county's insurance book paid out more than it took in. 2026, still open, is left out.
Drought and weather
Weeks per year, U.S. Drought Monitor, with half the county or more in D2 (severe) drought or worse.
Land, water and programs
Acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, USDA FSA, by fiscal year.
Next door
| County | Dry rent | Land value | Corn yield | Claims per $100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nelson County | $40 | $5,566 | — | $32.86 |
| Albemarle County | $33 | $9,048 | — | $32.16 |
| Amherst County | $26 | $5,795 | — | $44.05 |
| Appomattox County | $33 | $3,591 | — | $15.09 |
| Augusta County | $105 | $7,594 | 146.2 | $12.19 |
| Buckingham County | $30 | $4,400 | — | $14.96 |
| Rockbridge County | $33 | $5,763 | — | $7.24 |
| Median next door | $33 | $5,779 | 146.2 1 co. | $15.03 |
Counties that share a stretch of boundary. An older rent carries its year and stays out of the median.
Cite this page
AGSIST Farmland Atlas. Nelson County, Virginia. Figures as of 2026-09-20, from USDA NASS, USDA RMA, USDA FSA, the U.S. Drought Monitor and NOAA. https://agsist.com/farmland-atlas/virginia/nelson-countyEvery figure is a county average from the sources named below. Ranks count counties with 10,000 acres or more in farms, in the same survey year for rent, within the state. Methods: how each figure is built. Downloads: all counties, CSV.
Sources, dates and arithmetic
"Figures as of" is the date this page's numbers last changed; it moves only when a figure on the page does. Source files and their retrieval dates are listed on the data page.
Rent: USDA NASS Cash Rents Survey, county. Land value: Census of Agriculture, operators' estimate of land and buildings. Yield: NASS county corn yields, trend fitted here over every published year since 2008. Loss ratio: claims (indemnity) divided by total premium, USDA RMA Summary of Business, 1989 on, open crop year left out. Drought: U.S. Drought Monitor, weeks with half the county or more in D2 or worse. July lows: NOAA nClimDiv county monthly minimum temperature. A dash means the record does not carry the figure or the source withheld it; the reason is printed beside it.